Finance and money forum

On the surface, it looks like a good concept, and I know many people swear by them. But you need to read the fineprint - and you will see something relating to the fact that the banks that you use to withdraw money can add on their own fees. These fees are not always disclosed - especially when using an ATM. My friend used his last year at an ATM , and after checking his online statement back home, found he had been hit with a whopping $25 transaction fee. He turfed the card, and ended up relying on mine for the rest of the trip.

The ATM that he used belonged to one of the major banks, and was outside the bank. BTW - I'm always wary that the ATM's that are outside 7-11's, petrol stations,etc can charge extra fees because they are effectively an agent for the bank. Not sure if that is technically correct... but I got stung once, and now prefer to only use the bank ATM's. That way if something goes wrong, I can pop into bank to sort it out.

But to answer your question, after my friend's experience, I would never use Travelex.

Actually the fee they got charged would have most likely been an "International Transaction fee" which is just for making a purchase overseas which is charged by their bank not Travelex if Im not mistaken.

If this is the case most likely they would have got charged that fee AND other fees if they used their own normal bank card.

The passports are much safer as they dont have names or numbers on the card so unless you know the pin code no one can steal your identity or use the card -thats one of the best features.

Also as far as I know when you use the card the conversion rate used is of the rate of the day you put money onto the card last (the rate of the day you put the money on is locked in - so Im told). So if you put cash on it when the exchange rate was low (aka in your favor) then you will be spending on that rate whereas if you use the bank cards you pay whatever the rate is the day you make the purchase which could be terrible or really good (youd have to check everyday).

I hope this makes sense. Obviously go and check it all out first - I could be misinformed, but I dont think so.

That is hilarious. Thanks for posting that somtam.

I don't envy the Travelex employees, having to search the internet for posts about Travelex. Then again, if they are that quick, they do have very little traffic or are heavily overstaffed which would explain all the fees.

Hi again Cairyn,

You appear to have come across the comments and joined Travelfish after searching Google for "backpacker forum - travelex". The actual page is here and there are indeed a couple of results for Travelfish there (though the actual results may vary a little due to browsing history and country to country variations).

We occasionally have companies answering questions on Travelfish -- and with a couple of exceptions (Vietnam-based travel agents come to mind) -- it doesn't bother me that they post -- as long as they disclose who they are posting on behalf of.

Surely a better way to have phrased your initial comment would have been to have said something along the lines of "While I don't work in that specific part of Travelex, a friend who used to told me etc etc".

You're welcome to answer other threads regarding Travelex if you wish (or participate in the site in general), but please keep the above in mind.

Cheers

Cairyn, the $25 was charged as a direct result of using the Travelex card. Neither he nor I had any charges to that extent with any other credit card purchase, credit card cash withdrawal or ATM withdrawal. The $25 fee, and the fact that the bank could charge it without disclosing it, was enough to put him (and me) off using Travelex.

I just tend to reply on my ATM (debit card). I will bring several hundred in USD cash and keep it as back up for emergencies or to use up near the need of a trip. I have a range of demoninations - and make sure they are crispy new to avoid any problems.

I then use ATM card and pull out the maximum amount allowed each time. In some places, eg Indonesia, different banks will dispense different amounts (eg 1,250,000 up to 3,000,000rp), so you need to hunt down the ATM machine that allows the biggest withdrawals.

I only use ATM's that are attached to a bank - never the ones that are outside 7-11's, in a shopping mall, etc - as sometimes these non-bank-affiliated machines will include extra bank charges (commission or something similar).

I also carry a credit card for some larger transactions (airfares, etc) - and in one case, used it to withdrawal a larger than normal amount of cash in Vietnam. (Daily limits and minimum withdrawals would have made it to cumbersome to use an Debit Card). I just made sure that I transferred the full amount to my credit card account online to avoid daily interest feeds.

Finally - I always carry a spare Credit and ATM card and keep those in separate locations. This saved me big-time when I stupidly lost my wallet in Singapore - I had backup cards that allowed me to function as normal until my replacement cards arrived.